Elijah Harper - Politics

Politics

In 1978, he was elected as the Band Chief for Red Sucker Lake Band (now Red Sucker Lake First Nation), a position he held for four years.

In 1981, Harper contested and won the sprawling northern Manitoba riding of Rupertsland for the New Democratic Party to become the first Treaty Indian to be elected as a provincial politician. On April 17, 1986, he was appointed to cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio, responsible for Native Affairs. On February 4, 1987, he was named Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister in charge of the Communities Economic Fund Act.

He was appointed as Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for Native Affairs, on November 23, 1987. He was relieved of his ministerial responsibilities on September 9, 1987, after being involved in a car accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. No one was injured in the incident. Harper subsequently pleaded guilty to refusing a breathalyzer test, leaving the scene of an accident and driving while impaired. He was fined $450, and his driver's licence was suspended for a year. Harper acknowledged his mistake, and entered an alcohol-rehabilitation program. He was reappointed as Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for Native Affairs, on November 23, 1987, and served until the defeat of Howard Pawley's government in 1988.

In 1990, Harper achieved national fame by holding an eagle feather as he took his stand in the Manitoba legislature and refused to accept the Meech Lake Accord, a constitutional amendment package negotiated to gain Quebec's acceptance of the Constitution Act, 1982. The proposed Accord was negotiated in 1987 without the input of Canada's Aboriginal peoples. For ratification, the Manitoba assembly would have had to unanimously consent to a motion allowing it to hold a vote on the Accord. With only twelve days before the ratification deadline for the Accord, Harper began a filibuster which prevented the assembly from ratifying the Accord. As a result, Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells cancelled a proposed vote on the Accord in the Newfoundland legislature. The Meech Lake Accord required ratification by all ten provincial legislatures and parliament to come into effect. As Meech Lake failed to pass in both Manitoba and Newfoundland, the constitution was not amended. The same year, he won the Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Award, was voted as the "Newsmaker of the Year in Canada" by the Canadian Press, was awarded the title of Honourary Chief for Life by Red Sucker Lake First Nation, and received a commemorative medal of Canada from the Governor General for his efforts in public service. Harper also opposed the Charlottetown Accord in 1992.

Harper resigned from the Manitoba legislature on November 30, 1992. He initially wanted to run for the federal New Democratic Party in the 1993 federal election, in the northern riding of Churchill, but was rebuffed by the party leadership (the riding was already represented by NDP MP Rod Murphy, who did not want to resign). After considering offers from several parties, Harper agreed to join the Liberals in early 1993. He claimed that this change in party affiliation did not reflect a change in his principles: he intended to represent native interests in parliament, party lines notwithstanding. His presence in the Liberal Party was controversial, however; many former allies considered his decision misguided, and some Quebec Liberal MPs did not want to be associated with the man who brought down Meech Lake.

Harper defeated Murphy in the 1993 election, and served in the Canadian House of Commons in Ottawa, as a Liberal. He was a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Aboriginal Affairs, but was otherwise not a prominent MP. He was defeated by New Democrat Bev Desjarlais in the 1997 election, and again in the 2000 election.

Elijah Harper is also known for bringing Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples together from across Canada to find a spiritual basis for healing and understanding. One such gathering, called the Sacred Assembly '95, took place in Hull, Quebec in December 1995. From this Sacred Assembly, people developed a Reconciliation Proclamation and a Statement of Principles and Priorities. These documents would guide people in the sharing at the Assembly. A second Sacred Assembly took place at the Sagkeeng First Nation in August 1997, just northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

For his work for his people, Harper received the Stanley Knowles Humanitarian Award in 1991, and a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 1996. Elijah Harper was appointed Commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission on January 21, 1999, and remains in demand as a speaker.

A film based on Harper’s life, focusing in particular on the month of June 1990, when Harper blocked the Manitoba legislature from voting on the Meech Lake Accord, was directed by Paul Unwin and played in 2007 at the Vancouver International Film Festival. The film, entitled Elijah, was produced for the CTV Television Network. It stars Billy Merasty in the title role.